Child of Sorrow
by Pyro Buddha
Summary: Kenshin and his wife, Tomoe had just had their second child when a murderer came and killed Tomoe and their son. Driven out of the village, Kenshin and his baby girl come along to a manor where a certain maid offers him help and sympathy. AU K
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters.  
  
       

  Child of Sorrow

       

Cries rang through the house. Not cries of pain but cries of a new baby being born. Kenshin Himura held his new baby daughter happily in his arms. He looked over at his wife, Tomoe and smiled.

       

"She's beautiful," Tomoe whispered, obviously tired as Kenshin nodded in agreement. "What should we name her?"

        

"Not now, sweetheart. It is time to rest," Kenshin playfully scolded. Tomoe didn't even try to argue with him and closed her eyes quickly surrendering herself to sleep.

         

Kenshin walked out of the room still holding the baby and beckoned his first child, a son, Hisato, over to him. "Look, Hisato, you have a sister now."

       

Hisato scowled, "I wanted a brother though. Girls have cooties." Kenshin couldn't help but laugh. Hisato's scowl turned into a confused look. "What is so funny?" he demanded to know.

         

"Nothing, son, nothing," Kenshin ruffled Hisato's hair and walked over to the bassinette that had previously been Hisato's and now would be his daughter's. He gently placed her into it and could only think how good life was. At this time, he thought nothing could bring him down. He brought up a chair to just admire her beauty but he never noticed how tired he was. After awhile, his body slouched in the chair showing he had fallen asleep.

         

He wasn't woken up until hours later by screams, horrified screams, blood curdling screams. Kenshin's eyes popped open. He ran as fast as he could towards the yells, grabbing a katana on the way. When he got to the location, he stopped terrified. This was the room Tomoe was in. He quickly slid the doors open and his eyes widened horror-struck.

         

There lay his wife, his son, and the midwife that help Tomoe give birth, all lying in puddles of their own blood. Kenshin could not fight back his tears. He ran over to his wife and held her cold body in his arms as he wept.

         

"What kind of monster would do this?" he cried and was answered by a cynical voice, "That monster would be me." Kenshin whipped around to be faced by a man covered in bandages who held a bloodied katana.

       

"How could you do this? They were women and a child! They have never done anything to you!" Kenshin yelled furiously. Why a man would ever do this was beyond Kenshin's comprehension.

        

"Perhaps," the murderer drawled licking the blood off his blade. "But they were weak and... I needed some toys to play with." A laugh erupted sending chills down Kenshin's spine.

        

 "You don't deserve to live," Kenshin growled as he lunged towards the man, blade outreaching. Their katanas clashed sending sparks everywhere. And over the blades, Kenshin looked into his attacker's eyes and saw nothing. He had an empty soul with no regrets, no doubts, no nothing.

        

"Well, neither did they," the attacker said with a malicious grin. This only made Kenshin attack harder. He wasn't going to let this man... no, this monster get away with what he did. Somewhere, deep down, Kenshin knew this was helpless but still, he kept fighting. Finally, he got a blow in, a slice on the arm. Not a very good blow but a blow still. "Is that the best you can do? Then I am afraid you are just as weak as them." The attacker suddenly at what seemed to be the speed of light knocked Kenshin down and prepared to strike the final blow. But as he raised his sword, voices could be heard.

     

  "I heard screams coming from here!"

      

  "The Himuras? Why would someone want to attack them? What if it was just Tomoe having her baby?"

       

  "No, she had her baby this morning. Something is wrong!"

       

  "Hurry up!"

       

  The attacker decided not to kill Kenshin at the moment. He placed his sword into the sheath never letting that haunting smile leave his face. "I will let you live for now. This will be too amusing." And just like that, he disappeared. Kenshin was confused at what he meant but carefully got up jumping at every noise thinking it might just be the attacker changing his mind. But he had gone for good.

       

  When the door slid open, Kenshin held up the katana defensively but was relieved when he saw it was the villagers. "He... he murdered them," he cried letting his tears pour out but there was no sympathy in this crowd. They stared at him, his bloody sword, and his bloody clothes. "He went that way!"

       

  "Kenshin... we know where the murderer is..." the old woman from the next door told him.

       

  Kenshin's eyes widened, "Really? Where?"

        

  "Don't act like a fool!"

         

"Trying to trick us, huh? I never knew you were crafty, Himura."

        

  Kenshin was very confused now. What were they talking about?

        

  "We see the attacker right now." Kenshin whipped around looking for him but still, he saw nothing there.

      

  "He is standing right in front of us..." Then it hit Kenshin. They were talking about him. They thought he murdered his family.

         

"It... it... wasn't me!" he tried to explain but his words fell onto deaf ears. The villagers were already advancing towards him. He looked for where he could escape. The window was easy enough to access but right before he was going to bold he remembered something, or should I say someone?

       

  Kenshin took the villagers completely by surprise when he shoved through them, toppling people every which way. He couldn't leave his daughter. He refused to abandon his now only child. He hurriedly ran to the bassinette, wrapped the baby in a blanket, and held her as protectively as he could as he ran.

        

  "We will get you!" one of the villagers cried after Kenshin but he didn't stop to see who it was. He wouldn't stop until he was sure they were in safety.

        

 He could hear the loud, angry screams of the people. He could feel the warmth of their torches lighted with loathing. He could feel the stones underneath his bare feet tear his skin. But he did not care. Up ahead, he saw a forest, his only chance to escape. With an extra boost of energy, he finally entered it.

       

  The villagers stopped right there at the edge. "The forest... he and his demon spawn will most certainly be killed there," the old woman said with a cackle. The crowd murmured in agreement and after a few minutes of just looking where Kenshin had gone, they dispersed.

        

 But Kenshin did not stop though he knew that the people most certainly had not followed him into the forest. He could not take chances, not if he wanted to keep his daughter safe. And when he thought he could run no more, a break not too far ahead in the woods filled him with hope.

        

--------

 Kaoru Kamiya walked tiredly out to the field. Though she was tired and all she wanted to do was rest, she had noticed a cow still in the field and not in the barn. And since it was her duty to tend to the livestock, she had to go get it.

     

  "Hey ol' girl," Kaoru muttered grabbing the rope that hung around the cow's neck. She tugged the rope to lead the cow back where it was supposed to go but the cow would not budge. "Come on. I don't need this right now." She tugged harder this time but still no results. "Come on," she growled but it was still to no avail. This was one stubborn cow.

         

And just as Kaoru was about to slaughter the dumb thing from anger, she heard something from the woods. Her eyes widened and her hands began to tremble. Something was coming out. Kaoru, being the superstitious person that she was, believed all those stories about monsters living in there. But not only was she superstitious, she was also curious.

         

She completely forgot about the cow and began to creep towards the forest. At that time Kaoru saw the thing stumbling out. At first, Kaoru thought it was a troll with flames for its hair but as it got closer, Kaoru noticed it was actually a small man with a bundle in his arms.

        

 Kaoru rushed over to him to help. She immediately noticed the man was covered in blood but she suspected it was from the scratches that covered his body.

       

  "Help... me..." he whispered pushing the bundle into Kaoru's arms and collapsing right away.

         

Kaoru did not know what to do. She had never dealt with a situation like this. "Help! Someone help!" she yelled beginning to runs towards the Manor not really noticing the bundle she was carrying. In a few moments, men rushed down to carry the man to the Manor to receive medical attention.

         

At that time, the thing in Kaoru's arms made a sound completely surprising her. Startled, Kaoru looked down to see another little face staring back. "A baby?!" she exclaimed.

    

--------

     

When Kenshin finally awoke, he was very confused about where he was. He tried to sit himself up but his arms collapsed from exhaustion. "Where am I?" he croaked.

        

 "You need to sleep; you will collapse again if you don't," a man Kenshin supposed was the doctor told him. "I don't know how you even made it out of that forest. You are obviously suffering from emotional and physical exhaustion."

       

  "Where is she?"

        

  "She? Oh, do you mean the baby?" Kenshin nodded. "She is in responsible hands, don't worry."

       

 Kenshin once again tried to push himself up. "Let me see her."

       

  "Sir, we will allow you to see her once you are rested," the doctor said pushing Kenshin down on the bed gently.

       

  "No," Kenshin gave himself another shove and this time successfully made it out of bed.  
  
        

"Sir, I must insist..." the doctor began but Kenshin was already out of the room. He opened random doors frantic to see his precious baby. Finally he picked the right one.

         

There in the middle of the room stood a bright-eyed, young lady with the most enchanting blue eyes holding the baby and softly cooing at her. She looked up startled when Kenshin entered.

         

She smiled, "I see you are feeling better. I am glad. Do you want to hold her?"

         

"Please." She walked over to him and placed the baby back in her father's arms.

         

"I am Kaoru," she told him. "What happened out there? You seemed as if the devil was chasing after you."

         

Kenshin hesitated for a moment. He did not know if he should tell her the truth or not. He just met her though she seemed trustworthy. In the end, he told her, "Bandits attacked my family and I was trying to escape."

         

Kaoru murmured an, "Oh." Her smile faltered for a moment letting a glimpse of sadness pass over her face. "She is a cutie. What is her name?"

         

"I... I don't know. We hadn't named her yet." Kenshin now wished he had let Tomoe named the baby when she said she wanted to.

         

"Do you want to now?"

         

"I am not good at these things. My wife is... I mean, my wife was the one who came up with the names. She was creative like that," He fought back burning tears that threatened to spill down his face. "I know this will sound weird. But can you come up with a name? I don't want to give her a stupid name or anything."

         

Kaoru smiled in sympathy and thought for a few moments. "How is Chiyeko? Chiyo for short. She looks like a Chiyeko." Kenshin's smile came back. He liked that.

         

"Beautiful... Hello there, Himura Chiyeko."

--------

Author's Note: I hope that is good. Please leave me a review and if you have respectful criticism, please do not stop from telling me. Just please don't flame me. I am just a young writer and I am always looking for helpful tips. This story is going to be a K&K and I am not sure if I will have the other couples (but I most likely will). I will try to update as often as I can and try to make it a bit longer. And please excuse any typos in there


	2. Chapter 2

**Child of Sorrow**

  
  
        Kaoru quietly shut the door behind her to give father and daughter some alone time to be met face to face by the Lord of the Manor, Soujiro. Kaoru would never tell anyone this but she found him a little creepy for he always smiled. Something bad was happening, he would smile; he'd get hurt, he would smile; his wife would be screaming as their twins were being born and yes, he would still be smiling. Kaoru did not even attempt to figure out the guy.  
  
        "You are really good with babies," he commented. "How did you get that skill?"  
  
        Kaoru bowed her head in respect and replied, "As you know, I have had to take care of Yahiko after nursery hours."  
  
        "How old is little Yahiko now?"  
  
        "Nearly two now..."  
  
        The corners of his smile twitched almost seeming as if he wanted to frown. He looked off into space to try to hide his sadness. "Has it really been that long?"  
  
        Kaoru nodded. He was referring to when her parents died (they had been close friends while they were alive). Her father had died a week before Yahiko was born protecting the Manor and her mother died during childbirth with Yahiko. Kaoru had never really come to grips with their deaths but she wouldn't let anyone else see that.  
  
        "Sir, may I please be excused?" Kaoru asked softly after a few moments of uncomfortable silence and reminiscing.  
  
        "Oh... yes, yes. I sort of dazed off there. You are excused, my dear," Soujiro told her, his face once again painted with a smile that spread from ear to ear like he was never sad and near to tears. Kaoru bowed and ran off.  
  
   

-----

     Misao wasn't sure how much longer she could take this. Yahiko was persistent in not cooperating. She was trying like hell to get his pajamas on but all he did was dodge her clumsily and cry for 'busu.' And just as she was about to strangle the toddler, Kaoru arrived.  
  
        "Kaoru!" Misao exclaimed. "You were supposed to be back like 2 hours ago! You left me alone with that thing!"  
  
        "Busu!" Yahiko yelled happily running up to his older sister and giving her a hug. Kaoru smiled picking him up and placing him on her hip. You would think that Kaoru would blame Yahiko for her mother's death but Kaoru could never do that. She loved him as much as she could, spoiling him in every way.  
  
        "Were you good?" Kaoru asked in an almost teasing way. She got two different answers, an innocent, angelic nod from Yahiko and a loud "NO!!!!!!" from Misao. "Now, why aren't you ready for bed? You should be asleep by now."  
  
        "Well, the little brat wouldn't stand still long enough for me to change him," Misao said with a scowl. "I don't know how you stand him." Misao was Kaoru's 14-year-old sister. At first, Misao wouldn't even look at Yahiko because she believed to be the reason their mother died but Kaoru convinced her opposite. She began to love the little baby but he was really able to push her buttons.  
  
        "Genki food badder then Busu food!" Yahiko complained loudly as Kaoru carried him to his room making sure to stick his tongue out at Misao. Misao fumed. When she had children, they would be good!  
  
        "Guess what day is coming, Yahiko-chan?" Kaoru asked as she changed the little boy.  
  
        "What?" he asked curiously his big brown eyes wide.  
  
        "Your birthday so I will ask the cook to make you a special treat," Kaoru told him. "Maybe a cobbler or a cake or cookies!"  
  
        "Yay!"  
  
        Kaoru gently placed the toddler on his futon. Kissing his head lovingly, Kaoru whispered, "Good night, Yahiko-chan."  
  
        "Good nwight," he mumbled in reply half asleep. Kaoru smiled as she looked down at the sleeping boy. She couldn't imagine what she would do without him.  
  
   

-----

     "Kaoru!" someone called as Kaoru made her way out to the field. She turned around to once again be confronted by the Lord Soujiro. As always, she bowed to him like a good servant.  
  
        "Yesterday, I meant to ask you if you are happy with your job."  
  
        "Well..." Kaoru didn't know what to say. "It is not my duty to complain, Sir."  
  
        "No, no, it is all right. You see there is a need for a nursery helper and I was wondering..." Soujiro said hopefully.  
  
        Kaoru face brightened in an instant. This could mean she could spend more time with Yahiko! "Yes!" Kaoru exclaimed excitedly. "Err... I mean I would be honored to, Sir."  
  
        "That is good. I already offered your job to Himura Kenshin and I would be in trouble if you didn't accept," Soujiro sighed in relief.  
  
        Kaoru recognized the name, Himura from the man who came from the woods. "The man? He is staying?"  
  
        "Yes, he was unwilling at first but he agreed to work for me the instant I told him his daughter would be taken cared of. But we have been chatting for some time and I do believe you are needed at the nursery," Soujiro told her.  
  
        "Thank you, Sir. Thank you thank you thank you!" she said happily and then after a quick bow, she hurried off to her new job.

-----

        "Sir, I assure you that your daughter will be fine here," the nursery maid assured Kenshin for the fifteenth time.  
  
        "It is just I am really nervous something might happen to her," Kenshin replied. He had made a pact with himself; he would make sure nothing would happen to his daughter.  
  
        "Sir, please just trust us..." the maid pleaded again. She had other kids to look after and she didn't really have time to deal with Kenshin.  
  
        "Hello, Himura-san," a voice greeted from behind him. He whipped around to see the pretty girl from the day before standing behind him extremely cheerfully. What was her name again? Oh yes, Kaoru...  
  
        "You know this man Kamiya-san?" the maid asked exasperated, which Kaoru nodded in reply. "Well, you try to convince him that nothing will happen to his baby here! I have other things to do!"  
  
        "Himura-san, I will especially make sure Little Chiyeko is perfectly safe," Kaoru told him. Her eyes told him he could trust her with his precious little girl. Reluctantly, he handed his daughter over to Kaoru. "Now, Himura-san, I believe you are going to be late for your job and Soujiro-san is strict with being on time." Kenshin took one last look at Chiyeko and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "I will keep her safe, don't worry." Kenshin nodded and went his way to start his new job and new life.  
  
        "Busu!!!" Kaoru sighed. It seemed little Yahiko had found her.  
  
 

-----

      Kaoru collapsed on a chair at the end of the day totally exhausted. She had to stay a little longer for Himura-san was late in picking up Chiyeko. Both Chiyeko and Yahiko were fast asleep, in which Kaoru was grateful. She had no idea how hard nursery work was.  
  
        She should have known. Sometimes, catching Yahiko was quite a doozy but here, she had to catch about 30 kids with just as much energy as him.  
  
        "Kaoru-san?" Kaoru looked up with half opened eyes to see Himura-san standing there covered in scratches.  
  
        "Himura-san, what happened?!?" Kaoru exclaimed worriedly.  
  
        Kenshin sheepishly replied, "Well, there was a bit of a problem with the chickens and..." He blushed embarrassedly.  
  
        "You need to be bandaged up or those wounds might get infected."  
  
        "No, no, you need not do that for Sessha. Sessha will be fine," Kenshin said unaware that he was saying the 'unworthy one' instead of I, which puzzled Kaoru.  
  
        "I insist," Kaoru firmly told him. "I have bandages at home." She picked up the baby and put her in a carrier so Kaoru could have Chiyeko on her back and Yahiko in her arms. She did not want to wake up Yahiko to make him walk nor did she want the hurt Himura-san carry something increasing his risks of fainting.  
  
        "Let me carry Chiy...." Kenshin trailed off as Kaoru gave him a look that told him that there was no way in hell that she was going to let him do that.  
  
        "Follow me."  
  
        After a few minutes, they finally made it to her house. Kenshin noticed that hers was bigger then the other servants for some reason.  
  
        As soon as they entered the door, an angry, sort of squeaky voice said, "Kaoru, are we going to make this late thing a habit? I don't know how to cook anything! Do you want me to starve?"  
  
        "And when I do cook, you ask me if I want to poison you," Kaoru replied with a glare. "Now, behave Misao. We have a guest.  
  
        "Oooo... Who is this, Kaoru? Your secret lover with your love child?" Misao asked suddenly switching moods from pissed off to nudge nudge, wink wink.  
  
        Kaoru grabbed a wooden spoon and threw it at the other girl hitting her exactly in the head. "This is my annoying sister, Misao. Don't mind her." Kenshin laughed nervously. There was many sides to this woman and almost all of them scared him.  
  
        "Just sit down on the chair. I will be right back." Kaoru took Chiyeko and Yahiko to another room. When she came back, she was child free with a handful of bandages.  
  
        With a blush, Kaoru mumbled, "Can you please take off your shirt?"  
  
        "What?"  
  
        "You have scratches all over your upper body and I need to be able to bandage your chest too," Kaoru told him. Kenshin slowly took off his tattered shirt (as all the fan girls drool) a bit uneasily revealing a nicely tanned and muscular chest. This made things worse for Kaoru. Why couldn't he be pale and skinny? She wouldn't be so embarrassed if he was.  
  
        Gently, she began to wrap his cuts. "You are quite good at this, Kaoru-san," he commented.  
  
        "Thank you. I have had practice. I used to have your job and I was hurt a lot so I had to learn how to do this. I couldn't bug the doctor every time that happened," Kaoru said trying to concentrate on the cuts though her eyes kept straying to his muscles.  
  
        "Did I take your job? I'm sorry if I did," Kenshin apologized.  
  
        "Oh, it is all right. I like the nursery. And the jobs are really quite similar." Kenshin looked at her confused. "You see children are much like chickens. They are stubborn, hot-tempered, always hungry, they bite and scratch, and they are a lot faster then they should be." Kenshin couldn't help but laugh at the interesting analogy. "There we go! All done."  
  
        "Thank you, Kaoru-san."  
  
        "It was my pleasure," Kaoru said (and it surely was after that nice display she got to ogle at). "You probably should see the doctor in the morning, though. Just in case. Let me go get Chiyeko for you."  
  
        Kaoru walked into the other room to find the children still sleeping peacefully. She smiled. Chickens while they were awake but definitely angels when they were asleep. She picked up Chiyeko as not to wake her up and reminisced about when Yahiko was still an infant. She would give anything to go back to those sleepless nights. At least then, he couldn't run and call her ugly.  
  
        "Now watch out for those chickens," Kaoru told Kenshin as she handed him Chiyo getting a small laugh from him. "Good night, Himura-san."  
  
        "Good night."  
  
        Kaoru waved good bye from her door step as he made his way to his house. She walked back in to almost step on the unconscious Misao. "Maybe I shouldn't have thrown that spoon so hard," she grumbled as she began the long tiring work of dragging Misao to her room.

-----

Author's note: I would like to thank my reviewers for the wonderful reviews they gave me. I am going to try to update as much as I can because I will be gone for 3 weeks in July. Like always, please review. 


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